To touch the infinite

The sublime duality of this universe is realized

at the moment when death is known to be imminent

and one chooses to exchange it for an instant of ecstasy:

to create a universe in a matter of moments

birth, expansion, explosion and death.

We are given the opportunity to touch the infinite.

Together She and I can become more powerful than I could ever have imagined.

And so I sniff every inch of her tender nape in the vain hope of remembrance,

as if time mattered.

But now I can die. Continuity belied.

Now:  it is immortal.

Above the Dunes

The wind no more

but glistening

suspended

Tiny jewel

made mine eternal

mere grain of sand

Eclipses all

but me

alive above the dunes

Eye for an Eye: A Downward Spiral

Allowing for a human tendency to commit acts of evil, the principle of punishment commensurate to crime, consistently applied, inevitably leads to a downward spiral of violence and retribution--a race to the bottom as the boundary of morally justified destruction shared by opposing actors can only move in one direction.

As a corollary, only principles of compassion and forgiveness can constrict the boundaries of human destruction. These are possible only if the victim of evil resists the temptation to adopt the principles of the aggressor to realize absolute justice (an 'eye for an eye'), and maintains adherence to her own principles.

Fear and Peace

The society that motivates itself through fear will always overrun that which has found peace, but the peaceful society will endure forever.

Sophomore

Age might temper the perception of the truth at the same time that it convinces a particularly stalwart ego that it might be 'wise'. Wisdom is gray.

A Letter from My Grandmother

From Jacqueline Underwood
April 10, 2008

Dear Katie and Matt,

I was reading the past cards again and it brought back many memories. I can clearly remember the evacuation from Dunkirk. America had not yet entered the war although we were shipping supplies to Great Britain. I was just graduating from high school but a group of our friends were in the National Guard and were being sent to Fort Lewis, Washington. There were about sixteen guys in uniform; we (the high school students) all assembled at the train station in Colton, (CA). The Yellowjacket band in bright red and gold uniforms also played patriotic music and of course we girls cried. After all, they were going far away. Far away is so much closer today. Then in Dec. '41 the U.S. became an active ally of England. Most of the guys were 16 or 17 as was Grandpa. He was born in 1926 but the story goes that Grandma Ruth (your great-grandmother) said she'd say he was born in 1925 if he would join the Coast Guard instead of the Marines. She thought he would be on duty around the coast of the U.S. As you know he had one of the most dangerous sea duty assignments possible. He was assigned to a destroyer escort ship. Their job was to protect the merchant ships carrying supplies to England from Nazi submarines in the North Atlantic.

I worked as a time clerk for the Quartermaster Corps. We were responsible for shipping supplies to the harbor in Long Beach, CA, where they'd be sent to allies all over the world.

Long time ago, were we ever so young? No more memory provoking cards unless you can stand the rambling.

Hey, so glad you are having the good life. We get to read the news to your folks too. May God keep and bless you, Love always,

Gramma and Grampa U.

Musings over Montepulciano de Abruzzo

The fountain of glory bleeds red
A rose is but a flower
Flesh and stone strewn about velvet paverment
To die is to live again

A virgin calls tenderly
Bent to obfuscation, she cries dry tears
Why live to die again
Vastness my lover, that is why

You saturate my heart
I love you now but mind
Love is strange